It's about time I compiled some sort of moth update, so here it is...
In the first three months of 2026 we have caught 338 moths of 38 species. Some 33 are NFG (new for the garden) which is no great surprise considering the garden list was just 31 at the end of 2025. The total now stands at 64. Regular attention to #TeamMoth chat on Bluesky suggests we are not doing too badly here in Axminster. Certainly there are several moth folk who have already tallied 50+ species for the year and/or take far bigger catches, but there are many more whose garden traps appear to offer a similar return to ours.
I suppose an obvious question is, how do results so far compare with the old Bridport garden? 2023 was our first spring of moth-trapping in Bridport. We didn't start until February but by the end of March had tallied 227 moths of 36 species across 22 successful nights. This year's Axminster total of 338/38 includes two January nights among the 31 on which we've caught something. Playing about with the numbers tells me we're averaging roughly 6% more moths per successful night than we did in Bridport, but that our 2026 species total should probably be a bit bigger. On balance - especially considering I thought mothing here would be total pants - I'm well happy with that!
Early spring moths include some real lookers. Two of them - Streamer and Shoulder Stripe - feed on Dog Rose, so I reckon we must have a decent stock of it somewhere nearby. In Bridport we only ever caught five and zero respectively; here in Axminster we are on 15 and 12 so far, and with plenty of time for more!
|
| Streamer x2, both absolutely pristine. |
Last night was a positive Streamer-fest, with eight in total, mostly on various bits of fence and brickwork near the trap...
|
| At rest, Streamer has its abdomen slightly upcurved, and evidence so far suggests it prefers a head-down position! |
Our best haul of Shoulder Stripe was five on 23rd/24th March. This species too likes to decorate vertical surfaces near the trap, has an even more distinct upcurve to its abdomen at rest and seemingly prefers a head-up position...
Here is a selection of Shoulder Stripes in various states of wear and grandeur...
The last two nights have brought another spring lovely, a species we saw only once in Bridport...
|
| Water Carpet x2, both looking very fresh. |
Another springtime belter is Brindled Beauty. In Bridport we trapped 20 in 2023, but none before April. So I hope the fact that we've already caught five here bodes well...
|
| The well-named Brindled Beauty. |
Finally, a small selection of other bits and pieces since the previous post...
|
| A really not-drab Clouded Drab - 8 so far (cf. 9 in March 2023 in Bridport) |
|
| Early Tooth-striped - one of two so far (cf. three in spring 2023 in Bridport, all in April) |
|
| Early Tooth-striped #2 |
|
| Judging by the Devon Moths website phenology chart for the species, this is probably Hourglass Mompha Mompha divisella, which has a good number of early spring records. Though of course it is one of those irritating grade 4 moths, and might just be Dusky Hourglass Mompha Mompha bradleyi. Either way, it's a NFG which was fortunate enough to fall into the hands of a moth-er who doesn't do gen. det., and therefore lived to annoy someone else. |
|
| No such nonsense with this micro. Brindled Buff Agonopterix arenella was NFG in February, but that individual avoided the camera. This is our second. |
So that's it for the first mothing quarter. I'm glad I've bothered to keep a tally of numbers - it's been quite entertaining. The next three months will be an order of magnitude busier, but I hope I can maintain the enthusiasm for recording. I kept score of the Bridport garden moths right from the very beginning in June 2022, then managed most of 2023 but ran out of steam sometime in August. That was it, and I never tried again after that. Anyway, we shall see.
Meanwhile, the porch light has already pulled in a NFG Garden Carpet...
